John Calvin Commentary Hosea 10:3

"Surely now shall they say, We have no king; for we fear not Jehovah; and the king, what can he do for us?" — Hosea 10:3 (ASV)

He explains more fully what he had briefly referred to when he said that the condemnation, which would reveal their wickedness, was now near. He now adds that even they themselves would, of their own accord, say that they were deservedly punished by being deprived of a king; indeed, that a king would be of no use to them because they had not feared Jehovah.

A contrast must always be understood between the perverse boasting of the people and the experience of God’s wrath, of which the Prophet now speaks. As long as God spared the Israelites, they abused his forbearance and his kindness. They did not then think that there was anything blameworthy in their lives; indeed, we know how petulantly they contended with the Prophets. As soon as a severe word came from the mouth of any Prophet, great contentions arose: “What! Do you treat the people of God and the elect race of Abraham in this way?”

Since, then, they so obstinately spurned every instruction, the Prophet says here, “The time will come, when they will say that they have no king because they did not fear the Lord.” The meaning is that, as they did not profit by the word of the Lord, another kind of teaching was soon to be adopted. For the Lord would truly show his wrath and even force them to confess against their will what they now excused. This confession of sin would never have been expressed if the Lord had not dealt severely with them.

Therefore, they will say this—when? Even when they are taken to another school. For the Lord will not from now on remonstrate with them in words but will so strike them with his hand that they will understand that they have to deal with him.

But it must be observed that the Prophet is not speaking here of the repentance of the people, nor is he relating their words, but rather he mentions the reality itself. Hypocrites either cry out against God when he punishes their sins, or they falsely acknowledge that they are worthy of such punishments, while all the time the same perverseness remains within them.

But when the Prophet introduces them as speaking, he does not mean that they will actually say what he relates; but, as I have said already, he is rather speaking of the reality itself. Therefore, They will say,—that is, the event itself will declare—that they are deprived of a king because they did not fear Jehovah; indeed, that even if a king ruled over them, he would be useless.

Even if, then, the Israelites had never ceased to cry out against God, nor stopped openly spewing out their blasphemies against him, yet this, which the Prophet says, would still have been true. How so? Because it was sufficient that they were in reality convicted, even though God had not extorted this confession from them; indeed, they themselves were made to feel that they were justly struck by the hand of God, however much they might obstinately deny this before men.

The Prophet also shows here that profane men, while any earthly hope is set before them, proudly despise the hand of God and grow complacent in their own security, as if settling in their own dregs. While Israel saw their king among them, they thought themselves safe from all harm and boldly despised every threat. This, then, is what the Prophet meant.

Furthermore, when the Lord takes away everything that dazzles the eyes of profane and wicked men, they then begin to acknowledge how foolishly they had flattered themselves and how much they had been deceived by Satan. This is what is meant by Hosea when he says that the Israelites will be forced to realize that they had no king because they did not fear God. But this repentance would be too late, for it would be of no benefit.